Travelling round Fiji & New zealand+ campervan oz

1.
Posted bysteelman01(Budding Member 2 posts) 10y
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Hi there, Me and 3 mates are heading around tha world in nov 07, fiji and Nz are included. I am wondering if anyone could shed any light on the best way to travel round these islands as fiji & kiwi experiences are quite expensive? Plus we could do with a bit of info on getting a campervan for the east coast of Oz?

In Oz - there are adverts in all the hostels from people selling on their vans, cars etc at the end of their trip. These can go both ways as you can imagine - they're mostly pretty old and the newer ones are expensive - just depends how much money you all have. You could always be on the look out for one more person to chip in and share the costs of buying, petrol etc

I know a lot of people who hired their vans, which can be slightly more expensive and you don't get any money at the end back as you would if you bought one (as long as it doesn't break or you trash it!) but they are all really new, have road side assistance and they are more economical with fuel.....and much more comfortable!

DONT buy a car from the 'backpacker' car markets that are in every city in Oz - total rip off!

Whatever city you end up in Oz and whatever hostel there will be plenty of people staying there to give you the best advice on what hire company to go with.

Good luck with your travels - I'm very jealous - been back from oz 3 months and can't wait to leave here again!

I'm not sure how the prices compare with Kiwi experience but I used Magic bus and Stray bus to travel around New Zealand and thought they were reasonable priced, and I really enjoyed it with them. it's a similar kind of idea to Kiwi but with less of a party theme.

In Fiji I did a package with awesome adventures - it seems to be the way most people do it other than using Feejee experience, as some of the islands are quite hard to get to otherwise.

[ Edit: Edited on Oct 12, 2007, at 8:18 AM by bex76 ]

4.
Posted bySamSalmon(Respected Member 626 posts) 10y
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Been to Fiji 3 times-easy place to get around in transporation is cheap and easy but rarely fast.

You have a decison to make as to whether to folow the well worn tourist track to the Yasawas or head off to places like Kadavu, Taveuni and Vanua Levu where fewer people go.

This from another forum- on travelling to the Yasawas...

"I've just spent over a month visiting various resorts and villages in the Yasawas and had a great time. The islands are beautiful and the villagers friendly. Part of why I had such a good time is because I sailed there on my own boat and did not rely on a packaged trip put together by Awesome Adventures.

Awesome Adventures has a monopoly on these islands like I have never witnessed anywhere else. They have NO competition which means you see the Yasawas the way they want you to see them. With no other way to hop between islands, no places to stay other than their sponsored resorts and nowhere to buy or eat food except at their resorts, you can see what happens... Most backpackers on a budget who were travelling long term as opposed to the short term traveler on holiday complained about how much worse a deal it was compared to places in Southeast Asia and some even regretted having come. The main complaint is not just about the higher cost but that you don't get what you pay for. As a "yachtie" I stayed on my boat but ate meals at the resorts. At the most basic resorts, dinner cost around $10 to $15 dollars. The typical meals were heavy on starch consisting of a lot of cassava, rice, instant noodles, etc. Locally caught fish was the main protein source in the meals which was fine, but once again, should have been priced accordingly. Fish doesn't cost anything but a half an hour of fishing which I could easily do myself... If the same meal was served on mainland Fiji the price would have been about $2 to $3. Some resorts that are independent of the Awesome Adventures monopoly (i.e. Octopus) are a better value. My advice would be to do your research on where to stay very carefully and try and direct book where possible. "